Dr E. Balagurusamy, Member (Education), State Planning Commission, Government of Tamil Nadu, has suggested a five-point programme for enhancing the employability skills of students, especially in the engineering stream in the State.
Delivering the chief guest address at the Madurai Edition of ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu Bridge Programme, held here recently, he said that the educational scenario in the State in higher education is such that the teaching learning process lacked in cognitive skills, affirmative attitude and knowledge and basic skills in the chosen areas.
More than fifty per cent of the engineering colleges deserved to be closed as the infrastructure, quality of teachers and quality of teaching, left much to be desired. To stem the rot, he suggested a five-point programme of raising the minimum admission mark to 50 per cent in engineering colleges, closing colleges that do not provide quality education, raising the quality of teaching, improving the evaluation system and active participation by the industry with the academia. He said that time has come to say firmly a ‘no' where it has to be said in putting up with mediocrity.
Mr R. Balakrishnan, Additional Chief Secretary and Special Officer, Entrepreneurship Development Institute, Government of Tamil Nadu, in his special address said that 15 per cent of micro, small and medium enterprises in the country were from Tamil Nadu and the institute was focusing on developing the entrepreneurial skills and use of knowledge tools in the industry, especially among first generation entrepreneurs.
Mr Lakshminarayanan, Chairman ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu and Vice-Chairman, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Chennai, in his key-note address earlier, said that while continuous learning, experimentation and sharing have become the order of life, intellectual competency has become the vital component in the increasingly competitive atmosphere.
In such a scenario, the industry requires the academia to rise up to the need and having found a gap in demand and supply, the academy has stepped in to fill the gap by reaching out to the target audience in their own places and prepare them for the challenges.
Mr M. Sivakumar, Chief Executive Officer, ICT Academy of Tamil Nadu, welcomed the participants and Mr K. Purushothaman, Regional Director, Nasscom, proposed the vote of thanks. In the sessions that followed, employability skills for today and future, role of academia in developing employability skills and best practices in skill development were discussed.